.TH GIT-DPM 1 "2010-07-19" "git\-dpm" GIT-DPM
.SH NAME
git\-dpm \- debian packages in git manager
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B git\-dpm \-\-help

.B git\-dpm
[
\fIoptions\fP
]
\fIcommand\fP
[
\fIper\-command\-options and \-arguments\fP
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
Git\-dpm is a tool to handle a debian source package in a git repository.

Each project contains three branches, a debian branch (\fBmaster\fP/\fIwhatever\fP),
a patched branch (\fBpatched\fP/\fBpatched\-\fP\fIwhaterver\fP) and an upstream
branch (\fBupstream\fP/\fBupstream\-\fP\fIwhatever\fP) and \fBgit\-dpm\fP helps
you store the information in there so you have your changes exportable as quilt
series.

Git\-dpm will guess the other two branches based on the branch it sees.
(Most commands act based on the current HEAD, i.e. what branch you have
currently checked out, though some as e.g. \fBstatus\fP allows an optional
argument instead).
So for example, if you are in branch \fBmaster\fP, git\-dpm assumes the
corresponding upstream branch is called \fBupstream\fP.
If you are in branch \fBupstream-something\fP, it assumes the debian branch
is called \fBsomething\fP.

Note that most commands may switch to another branch automatically,
partly because it is easier to implement that way and hopefully so one
does not need to switch branches manually so often.

.SH SHORT EXPLANATION OF THE BRANCHES
.IP "the upstream branch (\fBupstream\fP|\fBupstream\-\fP\fIwhatever\fP)"
This branch contains the upstream sources.
It contents need to be equal enough to the contents in your upstream tarball.

.IP "the patched branch (\fBpatched\fP|\fBpatched\-\fP\fIwhaterver\fP)"
This branch contains your patches to the upstream source.
Every commit will be stored as a single patch in the resulting package.

Most of the time it will not exist as branch known to \fBgit\fP,
but only as some point in the history of the debian branch and
possibly as tag for published versions.
\fBGit\-dpm\fP will create it when needed and remove the
branch when no longer needed.


To help git generate a linear patch series, this should ideal be a
linear chain of commits, whose description are helpful for other people.

As this branch is regulary rebased, you should not publish it.

.IP "the debian branch (\fBmaster\fP|\fP\fIwhaterver\fP)"
This is the primary branch.

This branch contains the \fBdebian/\fP directory and has the patched
branch merged in.

Every change not in \fBdebian/\fP, \fB.git\fP\fI*\fP or deleting files
must be done in the patched branch.

.SH EXAMPLES
Let's start with some examples:

.IP "Checking out a project"
First get the master branch:
 \fBgit clone\fP \fIURL\fP

Then create upstream branch and see if the .orig.tar is ready:
 \fBgit\-dpm prepare\fP

Create the patched branch and check it out:
 \fBgit\-dpm checkout\-patched\fP

Do some changes, apply some patches, commit them..
 \fI...\fP
 \fBgit commit\fP

If your modification fixes a previous change (and that is not the
last commit, otherwise you could have used \-\-amend),
you might want to squash those two commits into one, so use:
 \fBgit rebase \-i upstream\fP

Merge your changes into the debian branch and create patches:
 \fBgit\-dpm update\-patches\fP
 \fBdch \-i\fP
 \fBgit commit \-\-amend \-a\fP

Perhaps change something with the debian package:
 \fI...\fP
 \fBgit commit \-a\fP

Then push the whole thing back:
 \fBgit push\fP

.IP "Switching to a new upstream version"
Get a new .orig.tar file.
Either upgrade your upstream branch to the contents of that file
and call \fBgit\-dpm new\-upstream ../\fP\fInew\-stuff\fP\fB.orig.tar.gz\fP
or tell git\-dpm to import and record it:
 \fBgit\-dpm import\-new\-upstream \-\-rebase ../\fP\fInew\-stuff\fP\fB.orig.tar.gz\fP

This will rebase the patched branch to the new upstream branch,
perhaps you will need to resolve some conflicts:
 \fIvim ...\fP
 \fBgit add\fP \fIresolved files\fP
 \fBgit rebase \-\-continue\fP

After rebase is run (with some luck even in the first try):
 \fBgit\-dpm update\-patches\fP

Record it in debian/changes:
 \fBdch \-v \fP\fInewupstream\fP\fB\-1 "new upstream version"\fP
 \fBgit commit \-\-amend \-a\fP

Do other debian/ changes:
 \fI...\fP
 \fBgit commit \-a\fP

Then push the whole thing back:
 \fBgit push\fP

.IP "Creating a new project"
Create an \fBupstream\fP (or \fBupstream\-\fP\fIwhatever\fP) branch containing
the contents of your orig.tar file:
 \fBtar \-xvf \fP\fIexample\fP\fB\(ul\fP\fI0\fP\fB.orig.tar.gz\fP
 \fBcd \fP\fIexample\fP\fB\-\fP\fI0\fP
 \fBgit init\fP
 \fBgit add .\fP
 \fBgit commit \-m "import \fP\fIexample\fP\fB_\fP\fI0\fP\fB.orig.tar.gz"\fP
 \fBgit checkout \-b upstream\-unstable\fP

You might want to use pristine tar to store your tar:
 \fBpristine\-tar commit ../\fP\fIexample\fP\fB_\fP\fI0\fP\fB.orig.tar.gz upstream\-unstable\fP

Then let git\-dpm know what tarball your upstream branch belongs to:
 \fBgit\-dpm init ../\fP\fIexample\fP\fB_\fP\fI0\fP\fB.orig.tar.gz\fP

Note that since you were in \fBupstream\-unstable\fP in this example,
in the last example \fBgit\-dpm\fP assumed you want your debian branch
called \fBunstable\fP and not \fBmaster\fP, so after the command returned
you are in the newly created \fBunstable\fP branch.

Do the rest of the packaging:
 \fIvim\fP \fBdebian/control debian/rules\fP
 \fBdch \-\-create \-\-package \fP\fIexample\fP\fB \-v \fP\fI0\fP\fB\-1\fP
 \fBgit add debian/control debian/rules debian/changelog\fP
 \fBgit commit \-m "initial packaging"\fP

Then add some patches:
 \fBgit\-dpm checkout\-patched\fP
 \fIvim ...\fP
 \fBgit commit \-a\fP
 \fBgit\-dpm update\-patches\fP
 \fBdch "\fP\fIfix ... (Closes: num)\fP\fB"\fP
 \fBgit commit \-\-amend \-a\fP

The \fBgit\-dpm checkout\-patched\fP created a temporary branch \fBpatched\-unstable\fP
(as you were in a branch called \fPunstable\fP. If you had called it with
HEAD being a branch \fBmaster\fP, it would have been \fBpatched\fP)
to which you added commits.
Then the \fBgit\-dpm update\-patches\fP merged that changes into \fBunstable\fP,
deleted the temporary branch and created new \fBdebian/patches/\fP files.

Then build your package:
 \fBgit\-dpm status &&\fP
 \fB dpkg\-buildpackage \-rfakeroot \-us \-uc \-I".git*"\fP

Not take a look what happened, perhaps you want to add some
files to \fB.gitignore\fP (in the \fBunstable\fP branch),
or remove some files from the \fBunstable\fP branch becaus your clean
rule removes them.

Continue the last few steps until the package is finished.
Then push your package:
 \fBgit\-dpm tag\fP
 \fBgit push \-\-tags \fP\fItarget\fP\fB unstable:unstable pristine\-tar:pristine\-tar\fP

.SH GLOBAL OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-\-debug
Give verbose output what git\-dpm is doing.
Mostly only useful for debugging or when preparing an bug report.

.TP
.B \-\-debug\-git\-calls
Output git invocations to stderr.
(For more complicated debugging cases).

.SH COMMANDS
.TP
.B init \fR[\fP\fIoptions\fP\fR]\fP \fItarfile\fP \fR[\fP\fIupstream-commit\fP \fR[\fP\fIpreapplied-commit\fP \fR[\fP\fIpatched-commit\fP\fR]]]\fP
Create a new project.

The first argument is an upstream tarball.

You also need to have the contents of those (or similar enough so
\fBdpkg\-source\fP will not know the difference) as some branch
or commit in your git repository.
This will be stored in the upstream branch
(called \fBupstream\fP or \fBupstream\-\fP\fIwhatever\fP).
If the second argument is non-existing or empty, that branch must
already exist, otherwise that branch will be initialized with
what that second argument. (It's your responsiblity that the
contents match. git\-dpm does not know what your clean rule does,
so cannot check (and does not even try to warn yet)).

You can already have an debian branch
(called \fBmaster\fP or \fBwhatever\fP).
If it does not exist, it will exist afterwards.
Otherwise it can contain a \fBdebian/patches/series\fP file,
which git\-dpm will import.

The third argument can be a descendant of your upstream branch,
that contains the changes of your debian branch before any patches
are applied (Most people prefer to have none and lintian warns, but
if you have some, commit/cherry pick them in a new branch/detached head
on top of your upstream branch and name them here).
Without \-\-patches\-applied, your debian branch may not have any
upstream changes compared to this commit (or if it is not given,
the upstream branch).

If there is no forth argument, git\-dpm will apply possible patches
in your debian branch on top of the third argument or upstream.
You can also do so yourself and give that as forth argument.

The contents of this commit/branch given in the forth commit or
created by applying patches on top of the third/your upstream branch
is then merged into your debian branch and remembered as patched branch.

Options:
.RS
.TP
.B \-\-patches\-applied
Denote the debian branch already has the patches applied.

Without this git\-dpm will check there are no changes in the
debian branch outside patch management before applying the
patches but instead check there are no differences after
applying the patches.

.TP
.B \-\-create\-no\-patches
Do not create/override \fBdebian/patches\fP directory.
You will have to call \fBupdate\-patches\fP yourself.
Useful if you are importing historical data and keep the
original patches in the debian branch.

.TP
.B \-\-no\-commit
Do not commit the new \fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP file and
possible \fBdebian/patched\fP changes, but only add them
to working tree and index.
.RE

.TP
.B prepare
Make sure upstream branch and upstream orig.tar ball are there
and up to date.
(Best called after a clone or a pull).

.TP
.B status \fR[\fP\fIbranch\fP\fR]\fP

Check the status of the current project (or of the project
belonging to the argument \fIbranch\fP if that is given).
Returns with non-zero exit code if something to do is detected.

.TP
.B checkout\-patched

Checkout the patched branch (\fBpatched\fP|\fBpatched\-\fP\fIwhaterver\fP)
after making sure it exists and is one recorded in the \fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP
file.

If the patched branch references an old state (i.e. one that is already
ancestor of the current debian branch), it is changed to the recorded current one.

Otherwise you can reset it to the last recorded state with the \fB\-\-force\fP
option.

.TP
.B update\-patches

After calling \fBmerge\-patched\-into\-debian\fP if necessary,
update the contents of \fBdebian/patches\fP to the current state of the
\fBpatched\fP branch.

Also record in debian/.git\-dpm which state of the patched branch
the patches directory belongs to.

Options:
.RS
.TP
.B \-\-redo
Do something,
even if it seems like there is nothing to do.

.TP
.B \-\-allow\-revert
passed on to merge\-patched\-into\-debian

.TP
.B \-\-amend
Do not create a new commit,
but amend the last one in the debian branch.
(I.e. call merge\-patched\-into\-debian with \-\-amend and
amend the updates patches into the last commit even if that was
not created by merge\-patched\-into\-debian).

.TP
.B \-\-keep\-branch
do not remove an existing patched branch
(usually that is removed and can be recreated with \fBcheckout\-patched\fP
to avoid stale copies lurking around.
.RE

.TP
.B merge\-patched\-into\-debian
Usually \fBupdate\-patches\fP runs this for you if deemed necessary.

Replace the current contents of the
debian branch (\fBmaster\fP|\fIwhaterver\fP)
with the contents of the
patched branch (\fBpatched\fP|\fBpatched\-\fP\fIwhaterver\fP),
except for everything under \fBdebian/\fP.
Also files that are deleted in the debian branch keep being
deleted and files in the root directory starting with ".git"
keep their contents from the debian branch, too.

The current state of the patched branch is recorded in \fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP
and so is which upstream branch was recorded patched branch is relative to
(to easy future merge\-patched\-into\-debian operations).

Options:
.RS
.TP
.B \-\-allow\-revert
Usually reverting to an old state of the patched
branch is not allowed, to avoid mistakes (like having only pulled the
debian branch and forgot to run \fBcheckout\-patched\fP).
This option changes that
so you can for example drop the last patch in your stack.

.TP
.B \-\-keep\-branch
do not remove an existing patched branch
(usually that is removed and can be recreated with \fBcheckout\-patched\fP
to avoid stale copies lurking around).

.TP
.B \-\-amend
Replace the last commit on your debian branch (as git commit \-\-amend would do).
With the exception that every parent that is an ancestor of or equal to
the new patched branch or the recorded patched branch is omitted.
(That is, you lose not only the commit on the debian branch, but also a previous
state of the patched branch if your last commit also merged the patched branch).
.RE

.TP
.B import\-new\-upstream \fR[\fIoptions\fR]\fP \fI.orig.tar\fP
Import the contents of the given tarfile (as with \fBimport\-tar\fP)
and record this branch (as with \fBnew\-upstream\fP).

This is roughly equivalent to:
 \fBgit\-dpm import\-tar \-p \fP\fIupstream\fP \fIfilename\fP
 \fBgit checkout \-b \fP\fIupstream\fP
 \fBgit\-dpm new\-upstream \fP\fIfilename\fP

.RS
.TP
.B \-\-detached
Don't make the new upstream branch an ancestor of the old upstream
branch (unless you readd that with \fB\-p\fP).
.TP
.B \-p \fIcommit-id\fP\fR|\fP\-\-parent \fIcommit-id\fP
Give \fBimport\-tar\fP additional parents of the new commit to create.

For example if you track upstream's git repository in some branch,
you can name that here to make it part of the history of your debian branch.
.TP
.B \-\-rebase\-patched
After recording the new upstream branch,
rebase the patched branch to the new upstream branch.
.RE

.TP
.B import\-tar \fR[\fIoptions\fR]\fP \fI.tar-file\fP
Create a new commit containing the contents of the given file.
The commit will not have any parents, unless you give \fB\-p\fP options.

.RS
.TP
.B \-p \fIcommit-id\fP\fR|\fP\-\-parent \fIcommit-id\fP
Add the given commit as parent.
(Can be specified multiple times).

.TP
.B \-m \fImessage\fP
Do not start an editor for the commit message,
but use the argument instead.
.RE

.TP
.B new\-upstream \fR[\fP\-\-rebase\-patched\fR]\fP \fI.orig.tar\fP \fR[\fP\fIcommit\fP\fR]\fP

If you changed the
upstream branch (\fBupstream\fP|\fBupstream\-\fP\fIwhatever\fP),
git\-dpm needs to know which tarball this branch now corresponds
to and you have to rebase your
patched branch (\fBpatched\fP|\fBpatched\-\fP\fIwhaterver\fP)
to the new upstream branch.

If there is a second argument, this command first replaces
your upstream branch with the specified commit.

Then the new upstream branch is recorded in your debian branch's \fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP
file.

If you specified \fB\-\-rebase\-patched\fP (or short \fB\-\-rebase\fP),
\fB git\-dpm rebase\-patched\fP will be called to rebase your patched branch
on top of the new upstream branch.

After this (and if the branch then looks like what you want),
you still need to call \fBgit\-dpm merge\-patched\-into\-debian\fP
(or directly \fBgit\-dpm update\-patches\fP).

\fBWARNING\fP to avoid any misunderstandings:
You have to change the upstream branch before using this command.
It's your responsibility to ensure the contents of the tarball match
those of the upstream branch.

.TP
.B rebase\-patched
Try to rebase your
current patched branch (\fBpatched\fP|\fBpatched\-\fP\fIwhaterver\fP)
to your current
current upstream branch (\fBupstream\fP|\fBupstream\-\fP\fIwhatever\fP).

If those branches do not yet exist as git branches, they are (re)created
from the information recorded in \fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP first.

This is only a convenience wrapper around git rebase that first tries
to determine what exactly is to rebase.
If there are any conflicts, git rebase will ask you to resolv them
and tell rebase to continue.

After this is finished (and if the branch then looks like what you want),
you still need \fBmerge\-patched\-into\-debian\fP
(or directly \fBupdate\-patches\fP).

.TP
.B tag \fR[\fP \fIversion\fP \fR]\fP
Add tags to the uptream, patched and debian branches.
If no version is given, it is taken from debian/changelog.

Options:
.RS
.TP
.B \-\-refresh
Overwrite the tags if they are already there and differ (except upstream).

.TP
.B \-\-refresh\-upstream
Overwrite the upstream if that is there and differs.

.TP
.B \-\-allow\-nonclean
Don't error out if patches are not up to date.
This is only useful if you are importing historical data
and want to tag it.
.RE

.TP
.B apply\-patch \fR[\fP \fIoptions...\fP \fR]\fP \fR[\fP \fIfilename\fP \fR]\fP
Switch to the patched branch (assuming it is up to date,
use checkout\-patched first to make sure or get an warning),
and apply the patch given as argument or from stdin.


.RS
.TP
.B \-\-author "\fIauthor <email>\fP"
Override the author to be recorded.

.TP
.B \-\-defaultauthor "\fIauthor <email>\fP"
If no author could be determined from the commit,
use this.

.TP
.B \-\-date "\fIdate\fP"
Date to record this patch originally be from if non found.

.TP
.B \-\-dpatch
Parse patch as dpatch patch
(Only works for dpatch patches actually being a patch, might silently fail for others).

.TP
.B \-\-cdbs
Parse patch as cdbs simple\-patchsys.mk patch
(Only works for dpatch patches actually being a patch, might silently fail for others).

.TP
.B \-\-edit
Start an editor before doing the commit (In case you are too lazy to amend).
.RE

.TP
.B cherry\-pick \fR[\fP \fIoptions...\fP \fR]\fP \fIcommit\fP
Recreate the patched branch and cherry\-pick the given commit.
Then merge that back into the debian branch and update the debian/patches
directory (i.e. mostly equivalent to checkout\-patched, git's cherry\-pick,
and update\-patches).

.RS
.TP
.B \-\-merge\-only
Only merge the patched branch back into the debian branch but do not
update the patches directory (You'll need to run update\-patches later
to get this done).

.TP
.B \-e \fR|\fP \-\-edit
Passed to git's cherry\-pick: edit the commit message picked.

.TP
.B \-s \fR|\fP \-\-signoff
Passed to git's cherry\-pick: add a Signed\-off\-by header

.TP
.B \-x
Passed to git's cherry\-pick: add a line describing what was picked

.TP
.B \-m \fInum\fP \fR|\fP \-\-mainline \fInum\fP
Passed to git's cherry\-pick:
allow picking a merge by specifign the parent to look at.

.TP
.B \-\-repick
Don't abort if the specified commit is already contained.

.TP
.B \-\-allow\-nonlinear
passed to merge\-patched\-into\-debian and update\-patches.

.TP
.B \-\-keep\-branch
do not remove the patched branch when it is no longer needed.

.TP
.B \-\-amend
passed to merge\-patched\-into\-debian:
amend the last commit in the debian branch.
.RE

.TP
.B import\-dsc
Import a debian source package from a .dsc file.
This can be used to create a new project or to import a source package
into an existing project.

While a possible old state of a project is recorded as parent commit,
the state of the old debian branch is not taken into account.
Especially all file deletions and .gitignore files and the like need
to be reapplied/readded afterwards.
(Assumption is that new source package versions from outside might change
stuff significantly, so old information might more likely be outdated.
And reapplying it is easier then reverting such changes.)

First step is importing the \fB.orig.tar\fP file.
You can either specify a branch to use.
Otherwise \fBimport\-dsc\fP will look if the previous state of this project
already has the needed file so the old upstream branch can be reused.
If there is non, the file will be imported as a new commit,
by default with a possible previous upstream branch as parent.

Then \fBimport\-dsc\fP will try to import the source package in the state
as \fBdpkg\-source \-x\fP would create it.
(That is applying the .diff and making \fBdebian/rules\fP executeable for
1.0 format packages and replacing the \fBdebian\fP directory with the
contents of a .debian.tar and applying possible \fBdebian/patches/series\fP
for 3.0 format packages).
This is later referred to as verbatim import.

If it is a 1.0 source format package, \fBimport\-dsc\fP then looks for
a set of supported patch systems and tries to apply those patches.
Those are then merged with the verbatim state into the new debian branch.

Then a \fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP file is created and a possible old state of
the project added as parent.

Note that \fBdpkg\-source\fP is not used to extract packages,
but they are extracted manually.
Especially \fBgit\-apply\fP is used instead of \fBpatch\fP.
While this generally works (and \fBgit\-dpm\fP has some magic to
work around some of \fBgit\-apply\fP's shortcomings),
unclean patches might sometimes need a \fB\-C0\fP option and then
in same cases be applied at different positions than where \fBpatch\fP
would apply them.

General options:
.RS
.TP
.B \-b \fR|\fP \-\-branch \fIbranch-name\fP
Don't look at the current HEAD, but import the package into the git\-dpm
project \fIbranchname\fP or create a new project (if that branch does not
yet exist).

.TP
.B \-\-verbatim \fIbranch-name\fP
After \fBimport\-dsc\fP has completed successfully, \fIbranch-name\fP will
contain the verbatim import of the .dsc file.
If a branch of that name already exists, the new verbatim commit will also
have the old as parent.
(This also causes the verbatim commit not being amended with other changes,
which can result in more commits).
.RE

.RS
Options about creating the upstream branch:
.TP
.B \-\-upstream\-to\-use \fIcommit\fP
Do not import the .orig.tar nor try to reuse an old import,
but always use the \fIcommit\fP specified.

It is your responsibility that this branch is
similar enough to the .orig.tar file in question.
(As usual, similar enough means:
Does not miss any files that your patches touch or your build process requires
(or recreates unless \fBdebian/rules clean\fP removes them again).
Every file different than in .orig.tar or not existing there you must delete
in the resulting debian branch. No patch may touch those files.)

Use with care.
Nothing will warn you even if you use the contents of a totally
wrong upstream version.

.TP
.B \-\-detached\-upstream
If importing a .orig.tar as new commit,
do not make an possible commit for an old upstream version parent.

.TP
.B \-\-upstream\-parent \fIcommit\fP
Add \fIcommit\fP as (additional) parent if importing a new upstream version.

(This can for example be used to make upstream's git history part of your
package's history and thus help git when cherry-picking stuff).
.RE

.RS
Options about applying patches:
.TP
.B \-f \fR|\fP \-\-force\-commit\-reuse
Only look at parent and tree and no longer at the description
when trying to reuse commits importing patches from
previous package versions.

.TP
.B \-C\fInum\fP \fR|\fP \-\-patch\-context \fInum\fP
Passed as \fB\-C\fP\fInum\fP to \fBgit\-apply\fP.
Specifies the number of context lines that must match.

.TP
.B \-\-dpatch\-allow\-empty
Do not error out if a dpatch file does not change anything
when treated as patch.

As dpatch files can be arbitrary scripts, \fBgit\-dpm\fP has
some problems detecting if they are really patches.
(It can only cope with patches).
If a script that is not a patch is treated as patch
that usually results in patch not modify anything,
thus those are forbidden without this option.

.TP
.B \-\-patch\-system \fImode\fP
Specify what patch system is used for source format 1.0 packages.
.RS
.TP
.B auto \fR(this is the default)\fP
Try to determine what patch system is used by looking at \fBdebian/rules\fP
(and \fBdebian/control\fP).
.TP
.B none
Those are not the patches you are looking for.
.TP
.B history
Don't try to find any patches in the .diff (like \fBnone\fP).
If if the project already exists and the upstream tarball is the same,
create the patched state of the new one by using the patches of the old
one and adding a patch of top bringing it to the new state.

If you import multiple revisions of some package, where each new
revision added at most a single change to upstream, this option allows you
to almost automatically create a proper set of patches (ideally only missing
descriptions).

If there are same changes and reverts those will be visibile in the patches
created, so this mode is not very useful in that case.

.TP
.B quilt
Extract and apply a \fBdebian/patches/series\fP quilt like series on top
of possible upstream changes found in the .diff file.

.TP
.B quilt\-first
As the \fBquilt\fP mode, but apply the patches to an unmodified upstream
first and then cherry\-pick the changes found in the .diff file.

As this is not the order in which patches are applied in a normal
unpack/build cycle, this will fail if those changes are not distinct enough
(for example when patches depend on changes done in the .diff).

But if the .diff only contains unrelated changes which varies with each
version, this gives a much nicer history, as the commits for the patches
can more easily be reused.

.TP
.B quilt\-applied
As the \fBquilt\-first\fP mode, but assume the patches are already applied
in the .diff, so apply them on top of an unmodified upstream and then add
a commit bringing it to the state in the .diff.
(Or not if that patch would be empty).

.TP
.B dpatch \fR|\fP dpatch\-first \fR|\fP dpatch\-applied
Like the \fBquilt\fP resp. \fBquilt\-first\fP resp. \fBquilt\-applied\fP modes,
but instead look for dpatch-style patches in \fBdebian/patches/00list\fP.

Note that only patches are supported and not dpatch running other commands.

.TP
.B simple \fR|\fP simple\-first \fR|\fP simple\-applied
Like the \fBquilt\fP resp. \fBquilt\-first\fP resp. \fBquilt\-applied\fP modes,
but instead assume \fBdebian/patches/\fP contains patches suiteable for
cdbs's \fBsimple\-patchsys.mk\fP.

.RE
.TP
.B \-\-patch\-author \fR"\fP\fIname \fP\fR<\fP\fIemail\fP\fR>\fP\fR"\fP
Set the author for all git commits importing patches.
.TP
.B \-\-patch\-default\-author \fR"\fP\fIname \fP\fR<\fP\fIemail\fP\fR>\fP\fR"\fP
Set an author for all patches not containing author information
(or where \fBgit\-dpm\fP cannot determine it).
.TP
.B \-\-edit\-patches
For every patch imported, start an editor for the commit message.
.RE

.SH the debian/.git\-dpm file
You should not need to know about the contents if this file except for
debuging git\-dpm.

The file contains 8 lines, but future version may contain more.

The first line is hint what this file is about and ignored.

Then there are 4 git commit ids for the recorded states:

.RS
First the state of the patched branch when the patches in \fBdebian/patches\fP
were last updated.

Then the state of the patched branch when it was last merged into the
debian branch.

Then the state upstream branch when the patched branch was last merged.

Finally the upstream branch.
.RE

The following 3 lines are the filename, the sha1 checksum and the size
of the origtarball belonging to the recorded upstream branch.

.SH SHORTCUTS
Most commands also have shorter aliases, to avoid typing:

 update\-patches:	up, u\-p, ci
 prepare:	prep
 checkout\-patched:	co, c\-p
 r ebase\-patched:	r\-p
 new\-upstream\-branch:	new\-upstream, n\-u
 apply\-patch:	a\-p
 import\-tar:	i\-t
 import\-new\-upstream:	i\-n\-u, inu
 cherry\-pick:	c\-p

.SH BRANCHES
.IP "the upstream branch (\fBupstream\fP|\fBupstream\-\fP\fIwhatever\fP)"
This branch contains the upstream sources.
It contents need to be equal enough to the contents in your upstream tarball.

Equal enough means that dpkg\-source should see no difference between your
patched tree and and original tarball unpackaged, the patched applied and
\fBdebian/rules clean\fP run.
Usually it is easiest to just store the verbatim
contents of your orig tarball here.
Then you can also use it for pristine tar.

This branch may contain a debian/ subdirectory, which will usually be just ignored.

You can either publish that branch or make it only implicitly visible via the
\fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP file in the debian branch.

While it usually makes sense that newer upstream branches contain older ones,
this is not needed.
You should be able to switch from one created yourself
or by some foreign-vcs importing tool generated one to an native upstream
branch or vice versa without problems.
Note that since the debian branch has the patched branch as ancestor
and the patched branch the upstream branch, your upstream branches are part
of the history of your debian branch.
Which has the advantage that you
can recreate the exact state of your branches from your history directly
(like \fBgit checkout \-b oldstate \fP\fImyoldtagorshaofdebianbranchcommit\fP\fB ; git\-dpm prepare ; git checkout unstable\-oldstate\fP)
but the disadvantage that to remove those histories from your repository you
have to do some manual work.

.IP "the patched branch (\fBpatched\fP|\fBpatched\-\fP\fIwhaterver\fP)"
This branch contains your patches to the upstream source.
(which of course means it is based on your upstream branch).

Every commit will be stored as a single patch in the resulting package.

To help git generate a linear patch series, this should ideal be a
linear chain of commits, whose description are helpful for other people.

As this branch is regulary rebased, you should not publish it.
Instead you can recreate this branch using \fBgit\-dpm checkout\-patched\fP
using the information stored in \fBdebian/.git\-dpm\fP.

You are not allowed to change the contents of the \fBdebian/\fP subdirectory
in this branch.
Renaming files or deleting files usuall causes unecesary large
patches.

.IP "the debian branch (\fBmaster\fP|\fIwhaterver\fP)"
This is the primary branch.

This branch contains the \fBdebian/\fP directory and has the patched
branch merged in.

Every change not in \fBdebian/\fP, \fB.git\fP\fI*\fP or deleting files
must be done in the patched branch.

.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright \(co 2009,2010 Bernhard R. Link
.br
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

.SH "REPORTING BUGS AND ISSUES"
You can report bugs or feature suggestions to
gi\t-dpm\-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org or tome.
Please send questions to git\-dpm\-user@lists.alioth.debian.org or to me
at brlink@debian.org.